Romain Gregoire wins incredibly close sprint from reduced bunch on stage 5 of Itzulia Basque Country
Cycling
In a messy finale, Romain Gregoire of Groupama - FDJ has sprinted to victory on stage 5 of the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country after a blanket, photo finish across the line.
After the chaos of yesterday's stage and the massive crash, there was another incident in the earlier portion of stage 5 with Mikel Landa transported off the race in the back of an ambulance.
Nine men eventually formed the break including notable riders such as Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Johannes Staune-Mittet, looking to make a success of the race after the abandonment of their leader on stage 4 abandonment.
After they were caught, Sepp Kuss showed his face at the front, attacking at taking some King of the Mountains points.
With around 30km to go, a counter-attack then formed, with Staune-Mittet again on the attack, this time joined by Michal Kwiatkowski, Remy Rochas, Ibon Ruiz and Mark Donovan.
Lidl-Trek, the team of the new overall leader, Mattias Skjelmose, were doing the work at the front of the bunch and keeping the leaders within sight.
Only the final climb of the day, things began to light up at the front of the peloton with the likes of Isaac del Toro, Bruno Armirail and Oscar Onley going on the attack, catching the likes of Rochas and Kwiatkowski in the process.
After relying on Tao Geoghegan Hart to get him close, Skjelmose worked hard to cover the moves and as the descent towards the line started, things were all back together.
Just over 6km to go, Brandon McNulty was the next to make his move, countering after teammate del Toro had been caught. The American also couldn't hold his lead though, as he too was caught.
With no team having numbers to keep things under control, it was relentless attack after attack heading towards the line.
Into the final kilometre though it was still altogether. Del Toro tried yet another move but was fruitless and into the home straight Carlos Rodriguez attempted an attack.
Once the sprint launched though, there was an incredibly close photo finish to sort out the winner in a blanket finish across the line. Romain Gregoire was awarded the win ahead of Orluis Aular and Max Schachmann.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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#Itzulia2024 🇪🇸 - 🏁FINISH A insanely tight finish!!! 🇫🇷Romain Gregoire wins! 🏆🏆 #DomestiqueLive
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